


Two Fabulous Raccoons Meet (and There's One Real Raccoon)

by Bambi_Princess



Series: Klaus from Umbrella Academy Befriends Don from Crawford (2018) [1]
Category: Crawford 2018, The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: But Luther, Can be read as if Don is an oc, Don being the mentor Klaus needs, Don can talk to animals, Don in Crawford can talk to raccoons, Gen, Klaus Hargreeves Deserves Better, Klaus meets Don (Crawford), Klaus needs a friend, Luther trying to be a good Big Brother, Sibling uses Klaus for Ben Time, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, thats canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:42:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26241340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bambi_Princess/pseuds/Bambi_Princess
Summary: Klaus Hargreeves helped save the world, and now he's just trying his best to live a sober life. But, it can be hard when it feels like all his siblings care about is him staying sober to be Ben's translator and summoner. When Luther's therapist suggests him to try going to NA or AA to make a friend. Klaus triesThat's where he meets a Canadian rockstar who can talk to raccoonsORKlaus from Umbrella Academy meets Don from Crawford, but it can be read as if Don is an OC because you dont need to know anything about Crawford to read this story
Series: Klaus from Umbrella Academy Befriends Don from Crawford (2018) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1906174
Comments: 4
Kudos: 35





	Two Fabulous Raccoons Meet (and There's One Real Raccoon)

The world didn’t end. Vanya had almost hit the moon, but she had barely missed. Everyone believed he could see Ben, finally. When their short sister woke up she was back to herself, she felt awful for what she had done. But, the others comforted her and reassured her it wasn’t her fault. They should have been better siblings. They would be better siblings. He made sure Ben was visual for her. Ben's hug with her lasted longer than any of the other siblings’ they were always closest. Everyone was making promises that they were going to do better, be better. Like a real family. Klaus believed it too.

They weren’t wrong, but it didn’t translate to treating him much better. When Allison wasn’t taking lessons on becoming a better mother for Claire she was helping Vanya with her emotions. She had gone to the doctor about her voice as well, there was hope for her throat to recover in time. Allison started to learn sign language in case that day never came. The siblings all decided to learn to support her, Luther ended up quitting because his big monkey hands were just not made for signing. Diego got it pretty fast, Vanya was good at making the signs but struggled with remembering the words. But, Allison and her worked on it together a lot. Five saw it pointless, they could still speak, so he learned how to read but not how to use sign. It was Klaus who picked it up the easiest, and he was signing better than Allison in weeks. But, Klaus was always the one who picked up languages the best so why would sign be any different? He could tell the hint of jealousy in Allison’s eyes. 

He knows Allison doesn’t like him, one by one Allison introduced Claire to her uncles and aunt, Vanya, then Five, then Diego, and then Luther. Klaus was so excited it was finally his day to meet Claire. And he does get to meet her, after a million questions and promises to be “normal” “Not your normal” “just be good” he was going to get to meet his niece. Then it hit him hard like a ton of bricks. The simple written words, all pretty like that cut him deep. “I already explained to Claire about your power and Ben, so she won’t be scared when you make him solid.” Allison was only inviting him to meet Claire so Ben could meet her. He laughs it off, tells himself that they are just a package deal. But, Claire has so many questions for her cool ghost uncle and Ben is so happy to get to meet his niece. Klaus is there, but he feels like the ghost. Claire is young, just a child, clearly a ghost uncle would be far cooler than him. He thinks that when he can’t keep Ben solid that Claire will turn her attention to him. But, when it finally happens. All she wants to know is where her cool new uncle went. He’s exhausted, but gives her a large smile and explains that his power is like a battery and he needs to charge. Allison watches him like a hawk as he talks to Claire, she didn’t do that with Ben. Claire asks him if he could see ghost animals, he smiles and tells her he wished because they’d be a whole lot cuter. She wants to know what that means. But, Allison suddenly tells Klaus that shouldn’t he be heading back? That he must be exhausted. He never even got a hug hello or goodbye from Claire like Ben got. 

Diego and Vanya worked on fixing their relationship. They talked out a lot of things that hurt. Like how her book had revealed Diego’s stutter. He felt like it was a personal attack, while she had revealed his stutter not to shame him but to talk about how cruel their father was towards him for his stutter. Klaus personally didn’t think it made it any better, but it wasn’t his place to say. Vanya reminded Diego about how they had wanted to start a band with Ben. And how they practiced when dad was away, Vanya on guitar, Diego on bass, and Ben on drums. But, Ben died before their first performance. Diego confessed he missed playing with her. Klaus had remembered the band, Prime 8. He had remembered watching them practice. He couldn’t play any instrument, but he had wanted to be part of it, he had asked to be their singer. But, Diego was the bass AND lead singer. Singing was one of the few things he never stuttered and he needed it. Ben explained to him that this was their thing, and how 3 was plenty of members for a band they didn’t need a 4th. Klaus just made some remark about how they were just scared because he’d get all the cute fans and they’d be jealous. 

Klaus thinks that Luther might have felt the most guilty about everything. Maybe even more than Vanya. Everyone understood and accepted her reasons. Luther’s relationship with Allison after what he had done to Vanya was worse than ever. Vanya accepted her brother’s apology but it was clear she was nervous around him. The other siblings were a bit on guard around Luther and Vanya. As if ready at any moment to jump up and defend her from their big loaf of a brother. Of course it was clear to Klaus that the one most angry at Luther, was Luther. He was trying so hard to show them he wasn’t like that. That he was just trying to protect them like a good big brother. Klaus is the only one who treats him normally. He doesn’t act as if he’s going to hurt Vanya. Luther in return questions him everyday if he was staying off drugs and not drinking.

Five’s efforts were focused on helping Vanya learn to control her powers. He was a better teacher than dad. He never yelled at her or threatened her. Five was frickle, he needed space and company. Klaus could see better than anyone else the struggle Five went through. He tried to tell Five about the truth. Klaus talked to Dolores he could see Dolores not the mannequin that Five had put back in the shop. The real Dolores. Ghosts aren’t affected by time the same way as humans were. He doesn’t know if Dolores had jump with Five or if her spirit just found it’s way traveling the wrong way though time. But Dolores had always been a ghost. She had been a weak ghost, of a girl who wanted to be beautiful like the mannequins in the shop. So when the end of the world happened and everyone died in a flash one moment she was thinking about how she wanted to be like the mannequin and the next her spirit was stuck to one. The longer she spent with Five, being treated like a person, the more powerful she had gotten. When Five returned the mannequin Dolores’ spirit had attached itself to him. When he tried to tell his brother. Five called him a liar, crazy, high. Klaus wanted to hurt his brother in that moment and say something about Dolores, like how she would put his blanket on him when he fell asleep while working. But, Klaus knows it would just hurt his brother… or worse. It would become like his situation with Ben and the family. 

Ben, Ben, Ben. Ah yes, dear Ben. Everyone believed he could see Ben, finally after years. He thought finally they wouldn’t get angry when he talked to Ben. That they would be happy. And they were happy, they were so happy. Every time he’s around they ask about Ben. Is Ben here? What does Ben think? Can you make Ben solid? Can we talk to Ben? Klaus thinks they might ask him more about Ben than they ask about him. They want to know Ben’s thoughts not Klaus, they want Ben’s company not his. When Diego and Vanya came to him asking if they wanted to hang out, he was excited. When he was explained they were thinking about playing again he was confused, but happy. Were they finally going to let him be the singer? Then they asked if he could make Ben solid so he could play the drums. Ben was so excited, they were so excited. He couldn’t say no. He teased that he’d only do it if he could be a singer. He was called selfish. So he laughs off his stupid joke and waves it off, before summoning Ben and he sits there for what feels like hours listening to them play. And when he can’t keep Ben any longer, they whine that it wasn't long enough. Just one more song. But, Klaus is exhausted and his body aches and his head throbbed. So he tells them no; Vanya comments that it had been only an hour, as if making a ghost solid for a full hour should just come easy, as if he hadn’t really done any work. Ben is part of Five and Vanya’s book club. He was allowed to join, but according to Five the books would be “above his reading level” Klaus read the book out of spite. He understands it, but it’s boring. And he decides why would he want to be part of their stupid nerd club anyway? 

Ben is happy now, he’s finally being seen and spending the time he craved with his siblings. Sometimes it feels like his days are spent being Ben’s chauffeur or translator. Even when he’s too tired to make Ben solid. It was always Klaus, tell them this, or Klaus what does Ben want to do? Ben has book club with Five and Vanya, Ben has band practice with Diego and Vanya. Ben practices holding a pen and writing messages with Allison, it takes a lot less energy out of Klaus when Ben is only lifting objects and not able to be seen. But, it’s still tiring after a while. He’s getting stronger. Klaus can tell he’s getting stronger. It feels like his siblings don’t care. Heck he’s not sure if they think he’s getting stronger. Comments like “Ben managed to stay this time for an hour and 10 minutes” as if it was Ben is making Ben solid. Not “Good job Klaus for making Ben solid for an hour and 10 minutes” they just praise the ghost who doesn’t have to do anything. Klaus is happy for Ben, he truly is. But, sometimes on bad days. He wants to go back on drugs. He doesn’t think any of his siblings would truly care if he did. No they would care, they would care that they couldn’t see Ben. Okay maybe not Luther, and maybe Diego would care a little about him. 

The only sibling who seemed to give him attention, and not just want to use him for Ben, was Luther. Luther was good… but Luther was bad. He was a good brother, he was a very good brother. But, being asked and questioned about his sobriety only made it even harder. It was clear Luther didn’t trust just his words. Luther had started going to therapy. Klaus thinks it’s doing the giant a lot of good. Their siblings can see he’s trying to become better, and gain their trust again. Klaus and Luther bond over little things. Klaus likes hearing about space. On bad sober days, he’ll go to Luther. When the ghosts are too loud. Luther is louder especially when he’s talking about space. His voice booms with excitement and delight that someone wants to listen to him talk about space. Klaus can understand what it's like wanting to be heard. He wished sometimes he'd go to space and escape everything. It’s Luther’s therapist’s idea that Klaus should go to aa or na. That Klaus needed people who could understand his struggles. Finally Klaus agrees only if Luther buys him a nice dress. 

There Klaus was in a room with people he didn’t know all in a circle. He never liked these kinds of things. It felt weird, like when it was his turn to share that they were going to all stare at him and judge him. He’s used to being judged. But, he hated the looks. As he speaks with a look of disgust, the look ‘at least I’m better than him’ ‘I thought I was bad’ He feels like a caged animal with nowhere to escape. So he focuses on the plate of doughnuts in his lap. The only good thing about these kinds of meetings there was always doughnuts. Ben isn’t here right now. And Klaus is so happy to have a moment alone, he was home sleeping. Klaus had begged him to stay home and let him go alone. That he’d be fine because Luther was picking him up. He didn’t need a babysitter. 

There are 2 new faces. He hates that term. They are asked if either of them wants to share. Klaus just shrugs and takes a bite out of the doughnut. They look away to the other new face. He follows the look, the man was wearing a leather jacket, his hair done up in some sort of fohawk. He has eyeliner on. The man reminds Klaus of a raccoon, but a very clean raccoon. And Klaus notices a crystal necklace, he looks familiar. The man has a cat carrier with him, who brings a cat to NA? 

“Hi I’m Don and I’m an addict” A chime of hellos, Klaus doesn’t join in “I’m from Canada, me and my band on tour. We just released our second album. Tour has been hard. I’ve been sober for 2 years now. I took a break from my band to get sober. But being back in the scene it’s been really hard to stay sober. But, my buddies help me.” The man, Don introduces himself. Someone realizes his band, Klaus doesn’t know it. “Actually that was my old band’s name. My new band is called Ringtail Mayhem” Okay so that name was pretty cool. Much better than Prime 8. 

The meeting was almost over, they were asked if anyone else wanted to share. Finally Klaus shrugged and raised his hello hand. “Hi Klaus I’m an addict. I’ve been sober for almost a month now. My brother thought I should come here. Because his therapist thinks it’s good for me to talk to people who understand me or whatever. But, that’s not anyone here. I’m only here really because if I don't he’ll start asking me if I’m using again. I already get asked once a day by him. My other siblings don’t care. They just want me to stay sober… so they don't have to deal with me. Sometimes I wonder what's the point? Sobriety sucks… the memories… the ghosts… it’s all just so loud. I want to be numb. But, I made a promise to stay sober for someone very important.” Klaus clutches his dog tags tightly. He heard people whispering, asking their friends if he was that guy from that superhero team, the junkie one. Some argued no couldn’t be, others argued it was. Klaus didn’t say anything about it. 

Meetings don’t work not for him, they give him tips and suggestions, but they don’t understand. They talk about having ghosts and having to deal with them. But, his ghosts are literal. Soon one by one they leave. Klaus watches as the raccoon man puts a doughnut in his cat carrier “I don’t think cats eat doughnuts. Who even brings a cat to NA?” He chimed in. “He’s not a cat, he’s a raccoon” That took him aback. This man was just carrying around a raccoon? “Uh yeah! Is he like a mascot or something?” Klaus walks over to the man, he looks at Klaus, but doesn’t comment on the black flowy dress, it’s longer than his normal taste, or maybe it’s because he’s wearing a pair of pink slippers to go with his pink robe. Luther said he should “dress more seriously” for his meeting. But, he didn’t need to please people with how he looked.

“He’s a friend, but you could say he’s a mascot for my band. Hey Mayhem you want to meet a new friend?” Don asks the raccoon. “You named him after your band?” He asked as the other man opened the cage. “No he picked the name” the racoon slowly came out of the carrier and stared at Klaus. “Did you train him?” That made the rockstar laugh. “I have a way with raccoons, well animals in general. I can understand them on another level.” Klaus couldn't help but snort a little “May I pet him?” getting a nod he very gentle pet behind the ear.

Don has bright blue eyes, they are intense, but Klaus found something familiar in his eyes. “So why are you here? This doesn’t seem like your thing” He asks, but there isn’t judgement in his voice. “You wouldn’t understand, no one would. You’d just think I’m crazy” That made the man laugh. It was a common reaction. “I know how that feels. Try me. I think I’m a bit more understanding than most people” Don suggested, breaking off half a doughnut and giving it to the raccoon, who was enjoying Klaus’ petting.

The human ouija board stared at the raccoon man. “I see dead people, and drugs help me not see them. I’m Number Four, the Seance from Umbrella Academy” WIth that Klaus pulled up his sleeve revealing his tattoo. He often kept it covered up, he didn’t like people asking him about the Umbrella Academy. Everyone knew who he was, he was in the papers a lot when he was younger and just starting out being the biggest disappointment of the Umbrella Academy. When him being a junkie was a new big thing. When he ended up going to a mission high and let a robber free because he was too high to realize. 

“Nice tattoo, am I supposed to know what the Umbrella Academy is?” He asked with a chuckle, Klaus was taken aback a bit. “You know that rich old guy who bought 7 of those miracle birth babies? Turned them into superheroes” That seemed to jolt the guy’s memory. “Oh yeah, some of my classmates were really into your missions or whatever. Never cared much for superheroes myself. Sorry. So you can see ghosts. That must suck. Can you turn it off?” Don asks. He doesn’t ask about what it was like to be a child superhero, or anything like that. Not like most people do it’s nice.

They are the only ones left in the room, the leader tells them to put up the chairs when they are done talking and to have a good day. But, don't force them to leave. “I can only turn it off with drugs… some days are better than others. Some places are better than others. I can ignore them okay like. I never liked superheroes ether” Klaus confessed with a small smile. The raccoon buddy goes into Don’s lap and lays down, it makes weird chirping sounds, it’s cute. 

The canadian stares at the raccoon as if he’s listening to what it has to say. “Mayhem wants to know if you can see ghost animals. His mate died a couple months ago and he misses her” Don asks, did he understand the raccoon? No the man was probably pulling his leg. “Sadly I only see dead humans. Probably because animals are too pure to be stuck, they all just go to heaven” Klaus playfully tells Don, but he looks at the raccoon. Maybe Don was crazy and that's why he was so nice to him. Even when he was a child people used to question if he could really see ghosts or if he was faking it. 

Mayhem's ears lowered and he rested his head on Don’s lap. “I’m sorry” Klaus felt a little awkward. He hadn't expected the raccoon to look so sad. “It’s okay” The other man reassured. “So how long have you been able to talk to raccoons?” Maybe it was rude to ask, he might be crazy… but Klaus always went with what people said, and believed them. Maybe it was because he wanted someone to believe him, maybe he was more open minded, or more likely it was just nice to go with what the person thought instead of trying to shame them and call them crazy.

“Well… that’s a hard question. I guess as a kid I always had a way with animals. It was like I got them on another level, my parents said I always had such an overactive imagination. Because I thought I could understand what they were saying.” Don chuckles and it’s a nice chuckle. “But, then I started using and I lost the ability I guess. It only started coming back when I got off the drugs. We had a raccoon problem at home and I started hearing them. Longer I was off the drugs. The stronger it got. Moved on from more than just raccoons. But… let's just say I still have a soft spot for my ringtail buddies” He smirked and Klaus couldn’t help but giggle.

He felt weird, he reminded him of Dave, but not like Dave. He made him feel weird. But, not the way Dave made him feel weird. Sure the guy was pretty hot, but Klaus didn’t care about that. Something about the man, made him feel understood. “Hey would you like to hang out? We could grab a bite or do something? You seem like someone who could use a friend” Don confessed. 

Klaus sat there staring at the man. He was right, he did need a friend. He needed someone who could understand him, who could talk to him. Someone who didn’t have all his past things he’s done to fuck his life and hurt them with. Luther’s doctor was right, he needed to be able to talk to someone like him. He had finally met someone who could understand him. “Hey Mayhem we’re leaving, back in the carrier” With his words the Raccoon went back into the carrier like that.

“I wish I had the ability to talk to animals, animals are much cooler than ghosts'' Klaus smiled standing up and patted his dress a bit. “I’d love to hang out with you and Mayhem. My brother is probably waiting outside for me though. So I’m going to need to tell my brother dearest that. I’m going on a date with a man and his raccoon” Klaus teased a bit. “Oh I’m sorry but I hav-” “I was just playing, I’m not looking for a relationship right now. I’m still in love with my dead boyfriend. First thing you need to know about me if you wanna be my friend. I mess with people a lot. Gotta keep you people on your toes. Life is no fun if you don’t gotta keep on guessing” Klaus chuckled looping his arm around Don’s, the one that wasn’t holding the carrier. 

When they left the building there Luther was “What took you so long? Who is this?” He asked “Don this is Luther, Luther this is Don. He’s my new sober buddy.” The large man looked him up and down. Clearly deeming if he was safe to hang out with his brother.  
“How long have you been sober?” Luther didn’t beat around the bush. “2 years” Don couldn’t help but smile a bit. “Protective big brother you got there” He chuckled looking at Klaus. “You don’t know the half of it, we’re the same age, he just likes to pretend to be the big brother because he’s a giant and dad named him number one. But, he’s a good brother.” Klaus praised Luther knowing it would make him happy. 

With a slight grumble Luther shrugged “You better be home before dinner, you remember my phone number?” Klaus checked his left pocket and hummed. His phone wasn’t there “Right pocket” The blond brother informed him and checked his right robe pocket. “Yep! I’ll behave I promise.” He rolls his eyes, but Klaus can’t help but feel a little nice that Luther at least cared about him. “Is Ben with you?” He asked. “No Ben is at home because I didn’t want that ghostly pain in my butt nagging me about opening up during the meeting and blah blah blah. He’s the worst at meetings. If Ben was here, I wouldn’t have gotten to meet Don, because Ben doesn’t think I should make friends with ex junkies because they are a “bad influence” but your doc said I needed friends who can relate with me. Don relates. And he’s nice and has a racoon friend. He’s cool.” Klaus argued. 

Luther sighed “It would be better if Ben was here. But, my therapist says I need to trust you guys more. So I’m going to trust you Klaus okay?” With a big smile Klaus hugged Luther. “I promise we’re not going to do anything too stupid.” the lanky man took the leather jacket wearing the man's hand. “Lets go before Lu decides to come with to babysit”

Don found himself being dragged away, but not harshly. He noticed Klaus’ hands were cold to the touch. They felt unnaturally cold, but he didn’t seem to mind. “So you’re in a band? I always wanted to be a singer. I could show you around town” Klaus babbled, with a large smile. “Yep! I’m a songwriter and singer, but I play a lot of different instruments. This is my second day in town. I’d love to be shown around.” Don didn’t care about the looks they got, he was used to people looking. In his small town there weren’t many punks and guys wearing makeup was weird. He could tell people were looking at Klaus more, in his black flowy dress that went to his knees, pink fluffy robe and pink fluffy slippers. He even noticed the dog tags around his neck. 

But, something about Klaus, reminded him of a helpless raccoon who needed a friend.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Don  
> https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/552834839674617869/750099646524686367/unknown.png
> 
> While in the show he only talks to raccoons this series takes place 2 years after the show where his powers have developed and became stronger.


End file.
